Take a look at the odometer in this Camaro, and you may be shocked to see six-figure digits proudly displayed. Most of those miles were racked up during Michael's courting years to his then-girlfriend Janelle, who is now his wife. Michael would work all week, wrench on the car on weeknights, then take the weekend 400-mile round-trip between his hometown of Killeen, Texas, to Janelle's hometown, Houston. She was obviously worth the trip, as she is also into cars and enjoys when the Camaro humiliates any would-be contenders they come across. He even got car parts for wedding gifts. Congrats on the good catch Michael, I'll bet several fellow readers are envious after reading that. The car-crazy couple has also taken a few long-distance road trips in the car, a testament of both their trust and the reliability of the car.
Over the years, the Camaro has been continuously modified. It currently sports a 402ci stroker that utilizes an LQ9 truck-based LS engine block. This potent combo puts down a brutal 550 rwhp on the Dynojet. This full-weight street cruiser gets it done at the track as well, with a current best e.t. of 10.70 at 131 mph.
Michael's ultimate goal is to make the car a 9-second street car. He has recently installed a 250hp wet nitrous system, bringing the total horses up to 700. No track times on that combo yet, but that's more than enough power to get into single-digit territory. After that goal is achieved, a new project car will be built with his dad. They have a 1969 Camaro parked next to this one, just waiting for its turn under the wrenches and paint guns.
So there you have it, the classic story of boy wants hot rod, boy gets hot rod, boy meets girl, boy chases and catches girl, and keeps the hot rod, too. The happy couple is expecting a baby boy soon-who will no doubt be the next little grease monkey in this family. I'm betting junior's first ride home from the hospital is in the flamed Camaro. May his first word be "Vroom!"